Surgeon advises KP to look at biomechanics

A top consultant surgeon has advised Kevin Pietersen to not rush his return to competitive cricket as it could jeopardize his career.

Pietersen, the England batting mainstay, had to undergo an emergency surgery yesterday to heal his ankle and was ruled out of the remaining matches of the Ashes series.

Jason Nandlal, a consultant surgeon at the Cadogan Clinic, said Pietersen must sort out his achilles tendon problem biomechanically as well as surgically if he has to prolong his career.

"It does not matter if you are Auntie Maude or one of the world's top athletes: it takes at least six weeks for soft tissue to heal.

"You cannot rush a return from this type of surgery because you are likely to cause a rupture which can either mean a long time out or the end of an athlete's career," Nandlal said.

The specialist said that Pietersen must amend some of his body movements to overcome the problem completely.

"Biomechanics look at bowlers and change their actions to protect their backs, it may well be that Pietersen will have to have someone look at the way he runs to see if they can eliminate all the causes that might have brought about this problem.

"This happened with his England team-mate Andrew Flintoff when he had persistent heel problems. Eventually they not only sorted it out surgically, they got to the bottom of it biomechanically," he told the 'Guardian'.